Ghana Railway Corporation

Ghana Railways #1670 in Kumasi. #1670 is a GMDD (General Motors Diesel Division, London, Ontario, Canada) model GT18LC-2, 6-axle, 1,500 horsepower, diesel-electric locomotive, part of an order of 15 ordered in 1995. (GMDD is a division of EMD, formerly a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation.) It has an EMD 8-645 2-stroke diesel engine as prime-mover. Couplers are AARcoupling and air brakes. (Not known if this locomotive is A1A or Co-Co.) Locomotive can't be mu'd.

Ghana Railway Corporation operates the railways of Ghana. The Ghana Railway Company Limited is a public-sector body with responsibility for the efficient management of the national rail system so as to enhance the smooth movement of goods and passengers.[1]

Operations began in 1898 under the Gold Coast Civil Service with headquarters in Sekondi. The headquarters were transferred to Takoradi after the building of Takoradi Harbour, and railways and ports were jointly administered as the Ghana Railway & Ports Authority. In 1976, SMCD 95 separated the railway from ports as the Ghana Railway Corporation. The company enjoyed the status of a public corporation until 19 March 2001, when it became a limited liability company.[1]

The original 304-kilometre (189 mi) Eastern Railway was built in 1923 by the British for the purpose of hauling minerals and cocoa. Construction of the Ghana Railways started before there were any port facilities, and locomotives and other equipment had to be lightered over the beach.[2]

In 2010, a contract was signed to construct a railway from Paga (on the border with Burkina Faso) to Kumasi; plus a branch from Tamale to Yendi.[3]

The railway network in Ghana resembles a large capital "A" with 3 components - a "Western Division" (the left leg of the "A") from Secondi/Takoradi to Kumasi (280 km, 168 mi), an "Eastern Division" (the right leg of the "A") from Accra to Kumasi, and a "Central Division" (the horizontal bar of the "A") from Huni Valley to Kotoku. The 953 km (570 mi) network includes branch lines on the "Western Division" to Prestea and Awaso, a branch line to Kade on the "Central Division", and branch lines to Tema and Shai Hills on the "Eastern Division".

Very little of the railway network remains in operation. Accra to Tema, Accra to Kotoku, and Awaso to Dunkwa and south to Takoradi are the only parts that are known to be in operation. Very little is known about the current operating state of the rest of the system.

The following table outlines the dates of construction of the various parts of the railway network. (See map below right.)

Date

Western Division

Date

Eastern Division

Date

Central Division

1901

Secondi to Tarkwa

1910

Accra to Achimota

1926

Huni Valley (Tinkrakrom)(4) to Achiasi

1902

Tarkwa to Huni Valley

1910

Achimota to Nswam

1927

Achiasi to Kade (5)

1902

Huni Valley to Obwasi

1915

Nswam to Koforidua

1956

Achiasi to Kotoku (6)

1903

Obwasi to Kumasi

1918

Koforidua to Tafo

1911

Tarkwa to Prestea (1)

1923

Tafo to Kumasi

1928

Takoradi to Kojokrom (2)

1954

Achimoto to Tema

1944

Dunkwa to Awaso (3)

1954

Tema to Shai Hills

Note 1 - Tarkwa to Prestea is a branch line on the Western Division that services manganese mines.

Note 2 - Kojokrom is the junction of the line to Secondi (now abandoned). The other leg serves the port of Takoradi.

Note 3 - Dunkwa to Awaso is a branch line on the Western Division that services bauxite mines.

Note 4 - Huni Valley (Tinkwakrom) is the junction of the Central Division with the Western Division.

Note 5 - Achiasi to Kade is now a branch line on the Central Division. It used to service gold mines.

Note 6 - Kotoku is the junction of the Central Division with the Western Division.

The following table lists some of the stations and flagstops (halts) that existed at one time on the three Divisions. There may be more. In the latter days of operation on these lines, very few of them were in service.

In 2007 a consortium led by Dubai-based Kampac Oil Co signed a US$1.6 billion concession to develop the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) (Cape gauge) Western Railway.[9] Over five years a 500-kilometre (310 mi) line is to be constructed from Awaso to Hamile near the border with Burkina Faso. The government awarded a US$1.4 billion concession for the Eastern Railway to Peatrack earlier in the year.[10]

In March 2015 it was announced that a new suburban service linking Sekondi and Takoradi would begin by the end of 2015.[11] The US$100 million project, managed by Amanda Holdings, involves the rebuilding of 30 of 1067mm gauge track to standard gauge, and the acquisition of two DMUs for service. The Accra - Nsawam and Kumasi - Ejisu suburban lines are also to be rebuilt.